The Joint Commission announced it is seeking comments on its "Proposed 2014 National Patient Safety Goal on Alarm Management."

The proposal, which is intended for the critical access hospital and hospital accreditation programs, focuses on alarm management in relation to patient safety. The proposed national patient safety goal consists of five elements of performance, including establishing alarm safety as a priority; preparing an annual inventory of alarms and identifying the default alarm settings; identifying the most important alarms to manage; establishing policies and procedures for managing these alarms; and educating staff about alarm policies and procedures.